A search warrant showed that a senior US Air Force hypersonic missile scientist tricked a colleague into employing a prostitute at a prestigious military research team so he could continue paying for her services secretly.
At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio, a team was charged with developing hypersonic jet engines and rockets in 2017. According to a warrant acquired by the Daily Beast, Dr. James Gord is accused of deceiving a supervisor into hiring the 32-year-old sex worker, Amanda F. Savino.
Savino was soon offering what knowledge she did have to other scientists at the base, with one person paying her $20,000 a year to clean his apartment in the nude before having oral sex. Savino’s lack of proficiency in physics, engineering, and the fundamentals of word processors was quickly revealed during her day-to-day at the office.
Gord became irrational and made threats to kill the supervisor and himself as the scheme started to fall apart and the conned supervisor tried to remove Savino from her position, but in the end, he transferred the prostitute to another military contractor and provided $150,000 in funding to cover her salary.
Investigators also discovered a spreadsheet on Gord’s laptop that was provided by the government, on which he kept a list of at least 27 prostitutes that he frequented while traveling for the US Government. It was determined that a number of the prostitutes came from countries that posed a security risk to the US.
In 2021, Gord passed away mysteriously. He had previously told his colleague that he did not want his wife and family to learn about his affairs. The warrant, which was submitted in December 2019, requested access to Gord’s email account in order to look for proof of theft or misuse of government funds, fabrication of claims, extortion of federal employees or officials, and intimidation of certain groups of people.
Savino was being investigated for false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims, and prostitution near military and naval establishments. It is unclear where the case against her stands.
The warrant stated that in October 2017 Gord – who had a laundry list of academic and professional achievements,
Sukesh Roy, the CEO of Spectral Energies, received a sure-fire hiring for the position of administrative technician in the form of a candidate with accolades, degrees, and patents to his credit.
The warrant stated that Spectral Energies had been working as a contractor at Wright-Patterson for 17 years and had earned millions in federal funds. In addition to managing the contractor’s finances, Gord was in charge of the technology.
According to the warrant, Gord informed Roy that he had just seen Savino, a young professional, on a trip to Washington, D.C., and was “extremely impressed” with how she presented herself.
Roy was informed by Gord that Savino had sent him a résumé outlining her qualifications, which included a degree in biochemistry from the University of Tennessee and credentials from the University of Cincinnati medical school, and that he thought she would be a “wonderful fit” for Spectral Energies.
The warrant stated that Gorg “strongly pushed Roy to recruit Savino, speaking favorably of Savino’s technical abilities,” adding “she’s also incredibly sexy.”
Following the advice of his friend and reputable colleague – who the Air Force wrote ‘had produced myriad fundamental technology breakthroughs in burst-mode laser measurement systems’ – Roy hired Savino for a November 2017 start date.
Savino’s incompetence became immediately apparent, the warrant states, and Roy ‘quickly became frustrated with Savino’s lack of capability in the position.’
‘Over her first few months on the job, Roy stated Savino was not timely with her [expenses], did not fully understand how to use basic word processing and document creation software, and struggled to formulate coherent interoffice emails.’
Roy found out that her résumé was made up and that she lacked the qualifications she and Gord said she did when she refused to submit her college transcripts.
Gord admitted the truth about his connection with Savino when Roy questioned him about the revelation.
Savino was a prostitute Gord met in Cincinnati, Ohio, it was revealed.
‘Gord told Roy he did not want his wife or children to know about his relationships with these women,’ the warrant read, while also detailing how he confessed to curating a spreadsheet of at least 27 prostitutes across the country who he would patronize while traveling on US government business.
‘Gord told Roy he would take out cash advances against his government travel card to pay these women so that his family finances were not effected.’
The warrant noted that many of the women Gord frequented while travelling for work ‘were foreign nationals from countries considered U.S. National Security concerns.’
Gord explained to Roy that though he paid Savino $400 per hour for her services, ‘he declared her love for Savino and she declared hers for him.’
Gord told Roy how he and Savino regularly exchanged sexually explicit messages on his government issued phone, including elicit photos being sent to it by Savino.
He also elaborated that she engaged in sexual acts with other employees at the base, including a man only identified as Dr. I. K., who paid her the $20,000 per year to clean his apartment in the nude and then service him orally.
Despite the revelations about her true identity, Gord asked Roy to expand Savino’s technical research responsibilities at the military contractor, and even to include her name on research publications.
He also urged that Roy assign Savino as the representative for Spectral Energies for any duties outside of the Dayton, Ohio, area.
‘Roy refused both requests, citing Savino’s position with the company as an administrative technician and because she was not a technical expert in their field.’
Roy also asked Gord to cease any contact with Savino, which ‘angered’ him, ‘and ultimately ended all discussions between Roy and Gord about Savino.’
The warrant said that Roy met with his attorney to discuss firing Savino, but was advised to wait until her one-year review in November 2018 to ‘limit the company’s potential liability.’
Upon learning about Roy’s plan to oust Savino, Gord’s behavior began to unhinge as he told Roy he was the only person he had confided in and explained ‘if anyone ever learned about the nature of his relationship with Savino, Gord would know Roy was the one who leaked this information.’
‘Gord then stated he would come to Building 5 with one of his many guns to ‘end it all,” the warrant read, ‘Roy perceived this to mean that Gord would kill Roy and then himself.’
‘Gord also reminded Roy, of Bangladeshi ethnicity, that Gord was a senior research scientist at AFRL, and that as Roy was an immigrant the ‘old boys club’ at AFRL would never believe Roy if he disclosed the information about a scientist as well respected as Gord.’
The problem seemed to resolve itself about two weeks before Savino’s one year review, when she announced she would be leaving Spectral Energies in October, 2018. Roy learned soon after that she had taken a job with Innovative Scientific Solutions Incorporated (ISSI), where she was listed as a technical research assistant.
However, at about the same time Savino began her work at ISSI, Roy learned that Spectral Energies would not be receiving the full grant from the Air Force Research Lab that it had been consistently given the ten years previous, a grant that Gord was responsible for dolling out.
Instead of the $250,000 Roy had come to expect, he learned that Spectral Energies would only receive $100,000, and that Gord had elected to send the other $150,000 to ISSI.
‘The timing of Gord’s decision corresponded to Savino’s new position at ISSI,’ the warrant read, noting that a search of Gord’s phone revealed that he told Savino the grant would cover her ISSI salary.
The warrant said that in the months following Savino’s departure, Roy heard that Gord was introducing Savino as a research assistant to colleagues in his professional circle.
‘During this time, a colleague informed Roy that the vice president of ISSI, Dr. John Hoke, was surprised Roy allowed Savino to leave Spectral Energies considering how important she was to Gord.’
Roy initiated his complaint about Gord’s behavior to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) in March, 2019. AFOSI began their investigation the following month, discovering that none of the schools in Savino’s story had any record of her attendance.
In addition to seizing electronic devices, when agents searched Gord’s office they found women’s underwear, a box of Trojan condoms – a 12 pack containing only 10 – and a several empty bottles of erectile dysfunction medication.
Investigations into Gord’s email revealed he advised Savino about the importance of their maintaining a credible backstory that ‘must sync with one another, be simple, and be as near to the truth as possible.’
Their official story, according to correspondence, was that Savino and Gord met on while seated next to each other on a plane ride from Dallas, Texas, to Dayton, Ohio. Savino was to say that she struck up a conversation when she noticed a presentation Gord was working on, and that her interest was piqued by her background as a biochemistry graduated from the University of Tennessee. In addition to an art degree from the University of Florida Savino was to say she had been enrolled in medical school at the University of Cincinnati, but that she dropped out because of financial strain caused by a difficult divorce. She was also to maintain that she was a certified firefighter and EMT.
Another email recovered, headed ‘Dearest Amanda,’ first explained plans for her hire, before transitioning to a second section titled ‘***Personal Activities***.’
Under ‘***Personal Activities***,’ Gord talks about ‘playtime,’ explaining his preference for ‘sexy lingerie’ and erotic clothing, and asking Savino to bring the ‘Screaming O.’ The warrant clarifies the meaning of the Screaming O, saying ‘Agent note: a request that Savino orgasm during sex.’
The warrant also writes that Gord insisted sleeping alongside Savino was ‘very important to him,’ as he cited sleeping alongside ‘Renee’ for 31 years of their marriage as evidence that intimacy critical.
‘Good night, my dear!’ The email concludes.